I understand that Beyond 3.3 introduced changes to the graphics for planet surfaces (and the galaxy generally). The big change discussed in the FD livestreams was adaptive lighting which was said to have two main effects:
(a) colours on planet surfaces and elsewhere in the game would adapt to the environment (generally making them appear brighter and more vibrant from what I saw in the livestream);
(b) the dark side of planets would be really dark (requiring the introduction of night vision).
I personally don't have a complaint about either of these aims, although I was content with the colour changes introduced with Beyond 3.0. I didn't see the need to make them brighter. However, this is a matter of taste and I expected adjustments could be made using the in-game settings or graphics configuration override file. The fact that the dark side of planets was not dark was immersion breaking for me, so changing the lighting to make them remain dark on approach was a welcome change.
This brings me to the reason for this post. These changes to the graphics appear to have introduced a detrimental effect, which can be loosely described as a fog or blurring "curtain". The effect is obvious in VR at the start or end of the instance. Before the "curtain" appears or when it disappears, for a split second the planet surface graphics can be seen without fog or blurring (much like they were before Beyond 3.3 dropped). I think the "curtain" may be part of the colour balancing prototype which is sever-side based. However, whatever the cause, it stubbornly remains despite ANY changes I made through the in-game settings or graphics configuration override file (and I spend quite a few hours tinkering with both). It's almost like the "curtain" is baked in because changes I made to the filmic or ACES tone map settings in the graphics configuration override file had no effect. It was this "baked in" effect I believe may have led Dr Kaii to grey out the tone mapping option in EDProfiler after Beyond 3.3 was released.
So in short, I am massively disappointed with the lighting changes. For me the colours are too bright and washed out and the fog or blurring curtain is just plain horrible. The blurring effectively dumbs down the graphics settings. For example, I'm using a GTX 1080 Ti on ultra settings in game, but the appearance is more like medium or high, with the blurring contributing to the cartoon effect by removing detail. I would say it is so bad that it could almost be described as a bug. Please read this post and comment on the graphics (particularly the problems I've highlighted). Shout me down if you like, agree or provide your own insights, but as a VR user this development should be of some concern as VR users already take a hit on graphics.
PS: The "blurring curtain" is apparently a tinted overlay which has been the subject of complaint in the DD sub-forum. There's a link to that thread in my post below.
(a) colours on planet surfaces and elsewhere in the game would adapt to the environment (generally making them appear brighter and more vibrant from what I saw in the livestream);
(b) the dark side of planets would be really dark (requiring the introduction of night vision).
I personally don't have a complaint about either of these aims, although I was content with the colour changes introduced with Beyond 3.0. I didn't see the need to make them brighter. However, this is a matter of taste and I expected adjustments could be made using the in-game settings or graphics configuration override file. The fact that the dark side of planets was not dark was immersion breaking for me, so changing the lighting to make them remain dark on approach was a welcome change.
This brings me to the reason for this post. These changes to the graphics appear to have introduced a detrimental effect, which can be loosely described as a fog or blurring "curtain". The effect is obvious in VR at the start or end of the instance. Before the "curtain" appears or when it disappears, for a split second the planet surface graphics can be seen without fog or blurring (much like they were before Beyond 3.3 dropped). I think the "curtain" may be part of the colour balancing prototype which is sever-side based. However, whatever the cause, it stubbornly remains despite ANY changes I made through the in-game settings or graphics configuration override file (and I spend quite a few hours tinkering with both). It's almost like the "curtain" is baked in because changes I made to the filmic or ACES tone map settings in the graphics configuration override file had no effect. It was this "baked in" effect I believe may have led Dr Kaii to grey out the tone mapping option in EDProfiler after Beyond 3.3 was released.
So in short, I am massively disappointed with the lighting changes. For me the colours are too bright and washed out and the fog or blurring curtain is just plain horrible. The blurring effectively dumbs down the graphics settings. For example, I'm using a GTX 1080 Ti on ultra settings in game, but the appearance is more like medium or high, with the blurring contributing to the cartoon effect by removing detail. I would say it is so bad that it could almost be described as a bug. Please read this post and comment on the graphics (particularly the problems I've highlighted). Shout me down if you like, agree or provide your own insights, but as a VR user this development should be of some concern as VR users already take a hit on graphics.
PS: The "blurring curtain" is apparently a tinted overlay which has been the subject of complaint in the DD sub-forum. There's a link to that thread in my post below.
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